Encore, Encore
by kurgaya
Summary: IchiHitsu - They sat next to each other in class - a new school, a new town, a new life - with one constantly peering over the other's shoulder to check for the answers. Only one of them was a genius. That hadn't changed.


**Note:** I have never loved writing a story so much before - I absolutely _adore_ writing broken up sentences in a flashback~ And I totally recommend listening to the beautiful song below - if you've read _QueenOfCitrus_'s 'Que Sera Sera' you'll know why.

And, er, well... This is _pretty long - _over **double** the length of 'Downtown Downfall', actually._ (_But it didn't seem_ right_ to cut it into chapters...) So you better give yourself some time to get this whole thing read in one sitting!

Please enjoy, and I would really,_ really_ love some feedback for this monster :D

* * *

><p><strong>Encore, Encore<strong>

**Part 1 of the 'Trial De Novo' Trilogy**

Every time you fall  
>And every time you try<br>Every foolish dream  
>And every compromise<br>Every word you spoke  
>And everything you said<br>Everything you left me, rambles in my head

- Goodnight, Travel Well by The Killers

* * *

><p><em>" - nothing wrong with it - !"<em>

_"__ - lies, Kurosaki - "_

_" - Disgusting. Shouldn't be allowed - "_

_" - see how you can say that? What's the problem - ?"_

_" - but a child. You don't underst - "_

_" - Don't Hitsugaya-taicho me - !"_

_" - Freaks - "_

_" - Disgraces, both of you - "_

_" - Should never have been - "_

_" - Stop saying that! We've been - We're your friends! Why won't you - No! Please - !"_

_" - Execute them both - "_

_" - Ichigo! No, you can't - !"_

_" - Don't hurt him! My **god** don't - !"_

_" - Please! Please - !"_

__" - I hope you rot in Hell you motherfuc - !"__

___" - Bastards! **Bastards!** - __Why? Why? Why did you have to - ?"_

_" - law, Hitsugaya-taicho, and you broke it - "  
><em>

_"...Please, oh god please..."_

_"Die slowly, Tōshirō Kurosaki, just like your goddamn husband."_

* * *

><p>Warm brown eyes shot open to peer up through thin blonde fringe and darkness to gaze at the white ceiling staring down at him. Panting through dry lips, the teenager rolled onto his side and buried his face in the rich ruby pillow cushioning his mop of sticky sun-kissed hair; droplets of sweat rolling down the side of his face and pooling by his open mouth.<p>

The seventeen year old swore, screwing his eyes shut to try and disperse the image of the struggling, fearful stranger from his dazed mind; the blood he could still smell; the screams and the cries he could still hear, ringing like an alarm bell in his ears.

Hogo had had these dreams before, not always exactly the same ones, but they all presented him with the same people, the same choices, the same outcome. He had woken up many times in the night like this; trembling and a sorry excuse for a young man; extreme nightmares rocking his very sanity and disturbing his will to sleep. (He wouldn't be surprised if he had some sort of somniphobia. It would make sense, if he was always going to wake up like this).

Feeling miserable was a common occurrence, and when he opened his eyes he groaned at the early hours of the morning flashing on his bed-side clock. He gave a sigh and took a deep breath, hoping that the scene of the crime within his head would fade away before he decided to get up and get some coffee.

It took a couple of minutes for the image to leave him be, and by that time he remembered that the coffee maker was packed away in boxes like the rest of their belongings. Hogo swore again and sat up, running a shaking hand through his sweaty hair. The room around him was still, like it should be, but very bare, the bed being the only object of any use. The Jikkō family were moving house today, and unfortunately that included him.

He had lived in the busy monster-city of Tokyo for the whole of his life, moving to some unknown town was going to take some getting used to, he was sure. Karakura, if he remembered rightly, was a good four hours away by car, and most of their stuff had already been taken to the new house by lorry - all that was left was three beds and some kitchen utensils; the beds would be taken by another lorry later that morning.

Hogo hated being in a car, he would much _much_ rather be feeling the wind battering against him as he zoomed down the streets on his beloved Aprilia RS4 125 comically named 'Strawberry' (it was red, and he loved it, don't laugh at the name) but, alas, like every other interesting thing in the house, including the Xbox and_both_ of the PS3s, it was already at Karakura.

He gave an unhappy sigh and swung his legs off of the side of the bed. He picked up his glasses from under the bed, dusty, but that had been the safest place to keep them, and proceeded to wander through his over-sized bedroom in the dark, towards the old wooden door that groaned when he pulled it open. A light was on in the bathroom across the landing, which he was thankful for, and so navigating his way through his memorized house wasn't quite as hard as he had expected it to be. The flight of spiral stairs led down right into the middle of the living room, or what had been the living room if all of the stuff had not been taken out, and was now an empty room much like the study, the bedrooms - all six of them, the games room, and everything else in the house. The surprisingly small kitchen felt cold beneath his feet when he plodded in, and he cursed loudly once he was fully awake.

The coffee machine was in a box,_ right_, he knew that.

Not entirely sure what to do now he flopped down onto the floor, leaning up against the simple beige of one of the walls. The chilly night air nipped at his fingers and toes, and he cursed again, wrapping his arms around himself and wishing he had something warmer to put on.

Just one more night, he told himself, and then I'll have all my stuff back and I can wear what I like, when I like.

Now feeling even more miserable at the thought of 'no coffee', Hogo bent up his knees and rested his arms on them. The empty kitchen, minus the appliances, had never felt quite so bare before now, and the teenager let himself deflate, wondering what he was going to now, and if he dared fall back asleep again. The answer to the last one was 'yes'; he was sure his mum wouldn't be too happy with finding him asleep on the kitchen floor but Hogo couldn't bring himself to care, shutting his eyes and willing all dreams of a strange place called 'Soul Society' to leave him alone for just one night.

Consequently, his mother would wake up two hours later to comfort him in his sleep as he sobbed, blabbering a name that none of them knew, and screaming words that none of them could understand.

* * *

><p>Asuka, yawning loudly from the early start to the day, dropped down to the floor and huddled up against her older brother, both of them balancing bowls of cereal on their laps, and gazed up worriedly at his hunched form. "Are you alright Hogo-nii?"<p>

He gave a snotty sniff in response and she recoiled away, her tanned features screwing up in disgust. Hogo chuckled weakly and continued to stare at his untouched breakfast, his stomach rumbling in hunger but his throat all but telling him to eat it. "Sorry 'Suka."

His sister frowned, her darker blonde hair falling over her concerned eyes. "Did you have a bad night?" she asked from beside him, her own breakfast already halfway finished. When her brother nodded she nodded also, understanding what he meant. "Dreams again, huh?" she mumbled, feeling bad for Hogo. All four members of the Jikkō family were not new to the severe nightmares that the eldest child had; Hogo himself had lived with the strange dreams ever since he had turned fifteen. At first they were just about a boy that Hogo assumed he had dreamt up; a hot-headed, kind, idiot of a boy who lived with his insane father and two younger sisters, but as time progressed, this boy, this 'Ichigo', encountered _weird_ new people, and an unbelievable land - a place, _a huge place_, called 'Soul Society'.

When Hogo was younger he kept the dreams to himself, for that's all they were, he believed, but the same people; 'Ichigo', the midget, the freaky guy with the glasses and annoying curl of hair that fell across his forehead, and, more recently, the white haired _child_ who had only just been given the name 'Tōshirō' by his brain, kept appearing to him in his sleep, and his nightmares gradually got worse.

His oblivious parents had only been informed of the oddity when the guy with the annoying curl had practically cut 'Ichigo' in half with a katana; the blood that Hogo had seen sprayed across his dream like a fountain, so real, so _red_, and he [Hogo] had woken up in hospital after a major panic attack that, to his parents, had literally struck out of the blue.

Hogo had flat out refused to see a therapist for the problem - after all, they were only _strangely vivid_ dreams. He could live with that. His father had frowned at him for those words; Hogo could understand really; yes, he was living with them, but that didn't mean he was living well. Night-time was his least favourite time of day; morning, on the other hand, was like a God send - one whole day before he would have to pick up a blade and fight for his life again.

Hang on a second, since when was 'Ichigo's' life _his_ life - ?

"Hogo, if you're not going to eat that cereal, give it to Asuka," his mother suggested when she wandered into the room with a glass of water. His mum, always good with ideas, handed him the water and gave his fluffy hair a pat as he swiftly handed his awaiting sister the bowl of cereal that he hadn't touched.

Asuka rolled her eyes and mumbled about 'getting fat', yet took the presented food anyway and started to dig in. Hogo lifted his hands up far too late to swat his gentle mother away, grumbling in an irritated fashion, "Get off mum." His mother stuck out her tongue at him in response, and Asuka spat out her (Hogo's) breakfast as she laughed.

"Hey!" Hogo shouted, leaping away from his sister. "You better clean that up!" He pointed to the splash of milk on the wooden floorboards in an accusing manner.

Asuka, showing her more rebellious side, waved her hand dismissively, the spoon splattering more milk across them both. "Oh whatever, the new owners of the house can clean it up."

Their mother tutted from behind them but made no move to correct her statement. Asuka grinned in victory. Hogo just grinned, happy that his family's mood hadn't been damped by the violent wake up call he had given them this morning.

* * *

><p>The breath of fresh air that filled his lungs when he stepped out of the car was like a morning whiff of black, <em>black<em> coffee, and on that thought, Hogo slammed the car door shut and made a mental note to grab his, rather late, morning cup of coffee as soon as he got in.

He had told (read, ordered) his father to get the coffee machine working before doing _anything else_ in their new house. Now out of the car and surrounded by their new town, the teen just hoped that kind-hearted Akihiko had kept his promise.

Hirona, their mother, looked positively relieved about getting out of the car, her hands and head having been stuck behind the steering wheel for the best part of four and a half hours. Asuka grabbed the bags in the back of the car and then joined her brother on the lengthy driveway, both of them now staring at grande wooden doors that led them into their new house.

Did he mention that his family was loaded? No? Oh, well, they were fucking _rich_.

_But_ - yes, there's a 'but' here - his family were modest and so never bragged about it. So what if they never have to worry about financial problems? They were still nice, hard-working people who earned their money the same way everybody else did. And both Hogo and Asuka still attended public schools - mind, that was only because the private schools brushed them the wrong way. And anyway, in a normal school with average people, who was going to be able to tell they were rich? It wasn't exactly like they acted like pompous bastards and waved money in everybody else's faces.

They didn't, honest. They really didn't. (Though the temptation had struck Hogo once or twice, but only for a bit of fun).

"I hope dad remembered which way our rooms went around," mumbled Asuka, half-joking and half-serious, giving her older brother a look. Hogo shrugged in response - if their dad had got it around the wrong way he wouldn't care; the bigger room would then be his - and adjusted his shoulder bag. "Wanna go and find out then?" he asked, making his way over to the front door. Asuka smiled and followed him merrily, skipping in a care-free way that, Hogo thought as he shook his head, would have thoroughly impressed Inoue.

His hand paused mid-knock. Where had _that_ thought come from?

"Come on Hogo-nii," scolded Asuka, grabbing Hogo's wrist and banging his knuckles against the door. "Dad won't know we're here unless you knock."

Their mother came up behind them clicking her aching fingers and joined them as they waited. When a minute or two passed Asuka and Hogo both sighed together, Hogo pushing his glasses further up his nose. "He's probably too busy playing with the ice-maker on the freezer," said Hirona, rolling her eyes as she knocked on the door. "We never should have gotten that."

"But it's awesome!" the two teenagers cried in defiance at the same time, and Hirona was still laughing when Akihiko opened the door for them.

"Hello family!" the short and cheerful man exclaimed when he saw them. "I was wondering when you would get here - and what's tickled your mother?"

"Were you playing with the ice-maker?" Asuka asked quickly, and the way their father rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment was enough of an answer of her.

"Knew it," Hogo said, grinning ear from ear and high-fiving his little sister.

"How'd you guess?" Akihiko spluttered, cheeks turning red.

By now Hirona had calmed down enough to get some words into the conversation. "Because you're simple-minded dear," she said, unable to prevent the last few giggled from escaping. "Now, how about you let us in and show us around the house?"

Akihiko stepped back to let his family in, still blushing as red as his hair.

Hogo's first thought was that off, 'oh my god open plan!' as he wandered into the house behind his hyperactive sister, her mental age of fifteen having dropped down to about five in the few seconds it took her to dump the bags she was carrying by the delicate grande spiral staircase that lead up to the second floor just shy of the doors that Akihiko shut behind them all. The living room/kitchen was _big_ - big-big, as in, probably about four times the size of the tenth division office (and _how_ did he know that?) and the living room half was on the left, the kitchen on the right.

Asuka immediately bounded over to the white leather sofas and the fifty inch TV - _fifty inch!_ When did they get a new TV? - slipping on the woollen rug and landing with a 'thwump' on the locked trap door that had been hidden underneath. Akihiko and Hirona both laughed at their daughter, Hogo on the other hand ran over to the 'L' shaped kitchen appliances that lined the walls, and sat himself down on one of the black stools beside the bar-like table, swinging his bag off of his shoulder and placing it on the sparkling clean counter, peering around desperately for the coffee machine.

When Asuka gave an amazed cry, Hogo found, with pleasure, that the stools swivelled round, and he watched on in surprise as their father opened the trap door with a key, pulling it open and allowing Asuka to peer down at the steps that dropped down automatically. Light wafts of steam rose up out of the basement, and both Asuka and Hirona's eyes brightened in realization.

"No. Shit," the blonde haired females said together, both of them looking over at the single ginger of the family for conformation.

"What is it?" Hogo called from across the room when Hirona, not Asuka, squealed in delight and began to make her way down the ladder.

"Underground onsen!" she cheered, clapping her hands together like a toddler. "So this is what you were keeping a secret!" She said this last part to Akihiko, and again the man blushed and fumbled like a child. "You noticed that too, huh?"

Asuka laughed. "How could we not? You're not the best at keeping secrets dad - it's amazing that you actually kept this hidden from us! Even when we looked around the house ourselves!"

"Well, I was determined not to let you find out about it," said Akihiko, pride filling up his voice. "Go and follow your mother, spend as much time as you like down there, I'm going to show Hogo the garage."

Ears perked up immediately from the kitchen. "Garage?" Hogo echoed, slipping off of the stool and hurrying over as Asuka clambered down the ladder with unsteady feet. "Is 'Strawberry' in there?"

Akihiko beckoned his son to follow him as they talked. "That she is," he agreed, nodding. "Come on, it's this way. I've got something else to show you too, something I'm sure you'll like."

The peppy ginger led his son behind the sofas and the TV towards the top left-hand corner of the room; two chequered sliding doors were situated on the right-angled walls, the one on the right Hogo assumed led into the garden, and the other, he soon found, opened up into a hallway that had three more doors of it's own. Akihiko knocked on the first door when they past it, ("We'll come back here in a moment,") and continued down the long hallway and slid open the door at the end. The room they walked into was the garage, and Hogo's face split open into a grin when he saw 'Strawberry' sitting beside his father's car (his mother's car was still parked outside) in all her glowing-garnet glory.

"Hirona's still got to put her car in here," commented Akihiko, nodding towards the gap in the garage. "But as long as you don't park your bike somewhere stupid in here then there'll be plenty of room - we all know how bad she is at parking."

Hogo snorted in the process of gushing over his Aprilia, knowing full well how horrendous his mum's parking was. "I'm glad the movers didn't damage her," he said, letting out a breath of relief when he finished checking his motorbike. "I would have sued them."

Akihiko barked a healthy laugh, walking over and clamping his son on the back. "If all's well then, come on and I'll show you that room."

'That room' turned out to be something Hogo had only ever dreamed of.

(Okay, bad example, but it _was_ the stuff of _dreams_ - just not his)

If Hogo hadn't been a seventeen year old boy, he probably would have burst into happy tears. The room was average sized and fairly empty - an armchair, a deep sink, a large desk and another chair being the only things situated in the room furniture-wise, but Hogo grinned anyway, spying his three A3 black folders lying on that table that carried all of his artwork. All of his paints, oil pastels, pencils and other equipment was also on the table, sorted out into nice neat piles that Hogo knew he would ruin in about five minutes, but it was the fact that the room was empty and most certainly his that had him thanking his father greatly.

"I love it dad!" he shouted, turning his sunny smile to the man standing in the doorway. "It's going to look awesome when I'm done with it! Hell, I can hang all of my work up - make a collage! - I've even got my own sink! Mum won't have to nag at me for getting paint all over the dishes now!"

Akihiko couldn't help but smile at his son's enthusiasm. "I considered painting the walls for you so they didn't look so dull," he said as Hogo tottered around the room and starting to sort out his belongings. "But then I thought, this is _your_ art room, I'll leave all of the decorating to you."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Hogo gushed, feeling embarrassed at how stupid he was behaving but not being able to help it. "Have you got any of the white paint left from the living room? I'll need it for a base colour on the walls so that I can draw and paint on it..."

Biting his tongue in thought, Akihiko nodded after a moment's pause. "I think there's some in the garage," he said, nodding again to assure himself. "I'll get it for you after lunch - is that okay?"

Hogo's stomach rumbled at the mention of food. "What's for lunch? Have you got any coffee?"

"Of course I have coffee! You practically _threatened_ me to set up the machine the moment I walked into the house!" Hogo rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, a habit he had acquired from his father. "But I have something better than coffee anyway," continued Akihiko, and Hogo's eyebrows rose in curiosity.

"What could _possibly_ be better than coffee?" he demanded, rising his father up to the bait.

The shine of Akihiko's teeth through his smile was almost blinding. "Coffee cake," he said simply, and Hogo roared in delight.

"It's all mine!" he yelled, dropping everything in his hands, racing past his father and out of the room. He zoomed right, much to Akihiko's amusement, but skidded to a halt seconds later and ran the other way towards the correct exit, flipping his father the bird when he laughed, holding his stomach for support.

* * *

><p><em>"Hey... Why are you pulling that face?"<em>

_"...Ichigo..."_

_"..."_

_"...I..."_

_"Nu-uh Tōshirō, chin up, things'll be fine, I promise you. You trust me right?"_

_"...Of course I trust you, but..."_

_"Everything'll be okay, alright? Everything'll be okay..."_

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you remember the way? I don't want you getting lost on your first day of school."<p>

Hogo groaned for the umpteenth time that morning, tugging his shoe onto his foot and picking up his bag from the floor. "Mum, we'll be fine," he droned as Asuka came running down the stairs with a hair-band in her mouth and her bag slung over one of her arms. "See? Asuka's just as unorganised as normal - _nothing_ has changed."

The fifteen year old shot her brother a look for that comment, taking the band out of her mouth and tying her straightened hair up into a high ponytail. "Hogo-nii's right mum," she added. "Karakura High's not far, and if we get lost then we can follow the other students."

These words did very little to calm the anxious mother. "But what if they're drop-outs?" she argued frantically, thinking the worst of the situation. "What if you follow them to some drug hideout - "

"Mum!" Hogo interrupted, unable to believe that his mother was going down this route. "I'm a big boy now, I can look after myself. And don't worry about Asuka either, she'll be safe with me."

Hirona's shoulders slumped and Asuka sent her brother another glare. "I'm not pathetic you know," she spat, slipping on her shoes and adjusted her bag. "I can take care of myself too."

Hirona and Hogo both gave her an unimpressed look and she flushed, spluttering in denial. "Thanks for the vote of confidence!" she cried, sticking her tongue out at her brother as she ripped open the door and stormed out. Hogo just shrugged, knowing that Asuka wasn't really that mad, and turned back to his mother.

"What did I say? Everything'll be okay, alright?"

He faulted here and Hirona touched his chin softly to snap him out of his thoughts. "Hogo?" she asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"

Hogo laughed the strange feeling off, gently knocking away his mother's hand. "Why are you pulling that face? I'm alright, I'll see you later, okay?"

Hirona nodded slowly, still worried about the sudden change in her son's behaviour. Still, she let him leave, not wanting to make him late for school, but also not wanting to get in the way of his choices and life, lest she do something to upset him.

She had seen him cry far too many times to want to see it again.

* * *

><p>Karakura High was, in one word, average. After being introduced to the Headmaster of the school, a tall happy fellow who, despite his positive demeanour, scared the younger students enough for them to keep their distance, and separating for the day from Asuka, Hogo had been given his timetable and led to his Form Room by the Assistant Head; a short man with greying hair and a bark too scary to belong to a teacher. Hogo's Form Tutor was far too forgetful to be useful in the morning, he quickly learned, upon experiencing a register being taken after the bell had rung, and his Psychology teacher was a bubbly woman who had a thing for cake.<p>

He immediately liked her.

Psychology was his first period every Monday, and Hogo found himself sitting right in front of the teacher's desk on his own. He didn't mind terribly, much preferring to get his head into the difficult subject then to chat to some giggly idiot beside him, and the first hour of the day passed without a hitch. He followed a dark haired girl and her friends to his second period, Maths, and stood at the front of the class feeling like a fool while everybody else settled down without the teacher even having to be there.

Thankfully the teacher arrived before the bell and handed him a folder, text book, and work book that she had collected from the Math cupboard further down the corridor. "I'm Anzai-sensei," she said when he thanked her. He nodded in understanding and she turned to the rest of the class; trying to ignore the fact that everybody in the room was watching him, Hogo waited for a moment while the thoughts buzzed through his teacher's mind.

"Why don't you go and sit next to Sairai-san at the back of the room?" she suggested, indicating her head towards the empty seat. There was already a folder laid out on the desk, and Hogo bit his lip. "Um, sensei?" He didn't want to seem rude, but if the folder was any indication... "Doesn't somebody already sit there?"

The Math teacher didn't seem bothered. "Yes, Kamo-san does. But that doesn't matter, it's about time he moved down to the front so I could keep an eye on him. Now, hurry up, Sairai won't bite."

Hogo wasn't entirely sure he would agree with that statement; the black and white hair belonging to the short student sat at the back of the room didn't do wonders for first impressions. Still, he wandered over and placed his new equipment on the desk; Sairai's unusually small hands quickly took his bag off of Hogo's seat and dumped it by his feet.

"Thanks," said Hogo, pulling out the chair and making himself comfortable.

The other boy said nothing in return, and Hogo shrugged mentally. Surely it was the _new kids_ who were meant to be shy? He didn't let this put him off any though, and retrieved his pencil case from the top of his bag and set down to work, the 'starter' already being drawn on the whiteboard by the teacher.

It was about half way through the lesson that Hogo plucked up the courage to ask the student beside him for help on the question he had been staring at hopelessly for the past couple of minutes. Unsure how to go about the task, he pushed his glasses further up his nose in nervousness and tapped his pen lightly on the boy's book to grab his attention.

Bright teal eyes flickered over to him behind the fluffy white side-fringe, and Hogo felt his heart leap into his mouth.

_/"Your eyes are pretty Tōshirō."_

_"Flattery will get you nowhere Kurosaki."_

_"Says the person who's blushing furiously and thinks I can't see it."/_

"Can I help you?" Sairai asked, his eyebrows dropping into a frown when Hogo didn't say anything. These words snapped Hogo out of his stupor, and he tried to fight down the blush of embarrassment rising on his cheeks.

"Um, yeah, can you explain question fourteen to me? I don't quite understand..."

The younger looking boy nodded, leaning closer to peer at Hogo's work. While Sairai was thinking, Hogo tried his best to stare at the choppy black hair inches from his nose and _not_ the striking teal eyes - the same hair that had been grown down to the back of Sairai's neck, and cut, at the front, to just above his chin; the same hair that was entirely midnight black if you looked at it from above, but fringe and underlay were snow white and proved a soft sort of innocent to the -

_No!_ He was getting side-tracked! Think 'hair' not 'eyes'... Think 'hair' not...

Sairai looked up at him and nodded to himself, apparently pleased with the other student's work. Hogo groaned inwardly and resisted the urge to look away.

There was _something_… something...

"Here, give me your pen. You've got the right idea but you just need to apply it to the problem…"

The mention of Math snapped him back to reality, and Hogo shook the queer sense of familiarity off his shoulders, forcing himself to think only of the matter at hand.

Sairai's handwriting is nice, he thought seconds later, already distracted by the pale hand and the lean fingers that gripped the biro pen tightly and scribbled across the page, pointing out Hogo's errors and suggesting ways to improve his approach. He watched, mesmerized, for a minute, before blurting out suddenly, "I'm Hogo, by the way."

Sairai chuckled in amusement, putting down the pen and moving back to his side of the desk. "You haven't been paying attention to anything I've been doing, have you?" he asked, and Hogo laughed quietly at being caught red-handed. He mumbled an apology, feeling bad, but Sairai waved it off, unfazed. "It's alright, you're new and confused, I can understand."

"I'm easily distracted," countered Hogo, picking up his pen and pulling his work book closer to him to fool the teacher into thinking that he was working. "Like a magpie, I like pretty things."

For some reason, unknown to Hogo for a moment, Sairai blushed, and it was while the brown eyed boy was shamelessly staring at those colouring cheeks that he realized what he had said. Quick to correct his mistake, he spluttered, holding his hands up in surrender. "I – I mean – "

Sairai laughed again, and Hogo felt his heart flutter. "You're interesting," said the multi-coloured haired boy with a smile. "It's nice to meet you Hogo. I'm Kakusu."

For some reason Hogo felt like he had won an award upon hearing the muttered name. He beamed brightly and, being the forward teenager he was, said the first thing on his mind in response, "How _old_ are you?"

Kakusu looked affronted. "I'm not _that_ short!" His defiance came out louder than he had planned, and the rest of the chatting class quietened down, half of the amused faces turning to see what was going on at the back of the class. Kakusu shrunk under their gazes, and Hogo resisted the snicker when Anzai-sensei piped up;

"You tell him Sairai-san."

There was an eruption of laughter, and Hogo knew, patting the thoroughly flustered student on the head, that he was going to like his time in Karakura High.

* * *

><p>Two periods later, English and History, found Hogo standing in the middle of the canteen and wondering what he was supposed to do now. The plastic tables of four were crammed in the room like a broken toys in a child's toy box, and Hogo glanced around cynically for a place to sit; practically all of the tables were full or almost full and, considering lunch had only just started, he didn't want to take somebody else's 'seat'.<p>

Thankfully, though, somebody must have answered his silent call, for there was a shout from nearby and he spun around to see that black haired girl he had followed to Maths gesturing him over. He did so, not wanting to feel like a lost sheep for any longer, and dropped into the free seat when the girl smiled at him and patted the table welcomingly.

"You looked awkward," said the girl. "I thought I'd help."

"Thanks," said Hogo, opening his bag. The girl nodded and returned to her lunch, taking a large bite out of the thick chocolate bar in her hands; the other girl sitting at the table spoke up then, filling up the silence. "I'm Mana," she said, dark brown hair tied up in a bun. "I sit in front of you in Math."

Wondering why he was somewhat surprised with this useless piece of information, Hogo introduced himself. Once he had, the hazelnut haired boy sitting opposite held out his hand in greeting. "I'm Hotaka, nice to meet you Hogo. The pig sitting beside you is Evangeline."

"I'm not a pig!" cried Evangeline, screwing up the chocolate bar wrapper and dropping it back in her lunch box.

"Yes you are," said Mana, giving the other girl a look. "But you're lucky - if _I_ ate that much I would get fat. You, on the other hand..." She trailed off, not having to point out the fact that Evangeline was practically all skin and bone.

"Don't talk about being fat around me," grumbled Hotaka, who, despite his gloomy words, was not particularly fat himself, just a tad chubby.

"Yeah, yeah," said Mana dismissively, as if she had heard it all before. "But Hogo, how are you finding Karakura? Have you been here long?"

Hogo smiled at being remembered, already half way through his packet of crisps. "I don't know much about the town yet," he admitted. "Because I've only been here since yesterday. But I like the school here, the teachers seem to be pretty friendly."

"Where did you come from?" asked Hotaka, digging a double chocolate chip muffin from his bag and then throwing it to Evangeline, the girl's refined face perking up in happiness.

"Tokyo," said Hogo after swallowing a mouthful. "The roads here are a lot quieter, I'll tell you."

"That's quite a way away," said Evangeline, impressed. "I've been to Tokyo a few times myself, but it's far too busy for me. I'd like to live in a village myself."

"Nah," said Hotaka. "Karakura's great. We've got loads of stuff here," he added this part to Hogo. "A pool, a library, loads of shops, the river, the cinema - you name it, it's probably here."

"It's going to take me a while to get used to the place then," mumbled Hogo with a sigh.

Evangeline and Mana both laughed, the former spraying chunks of chocolate everywhere. "I've been here all my life," said Mana. "And I still don't know half the town!"

"Yeah," added Evangeline, shooting her friends an apologetic look for covering them in chocolate. "Don't worry about learning the place, you'll be fine."

Hogo nodded, smiling. "I'll just have to take your word for it."

The girls nodded, and the four of them settled down into a comfortable conversation.

* * *

><p>"How was school?" Hirona chimed from the sofa as Hogo clicked the door shut behind him.<p>

Hogo shrugged, kicking off his shoes. "School was good. Is Asuka back yet?"

Hirona frowned at her son's lack of information but just cast it aside as typical teenage behaviour, turning her attention back to the news flashing disaster on the TV. "No, some of her news friends are showing her around the area. She'll be back before dinner though."

Nodding as he walked towards the fridge that stood against the right-hand wall, Hogo asked, "What's for dinner?"

"Sukiyaki," said his mother and, as if she could see her son out of the back of her head she added, "There's no coke in the fridge. You'll have to have water instead, I need to go shopping."

Hogo, who had been looking for the coke, rolled his eyes and mumbled, "Typical" under his breath. He glanced over at the tap to his left and then stared back into the fridge, hoping that something more interesting than water would present itself to him.

"Once you've dumped your stuff up in your room, Hogo," continued his mother, addressing him by name was not needed, however, as they were the only two people in the house. "Then come back down, I need to talk to you about something."

The can of Sapporo Edelpils he had opened was lowered from his lips, and Hogo nodded to himself. Was he in trouble? Was it because of the alcohol he was drinking? Had the school rung his mother - had be done something wrong on his first day? Did they not like him? Was Asuka in trouble? Dad?

Hirona calmed his fears unknowingly with her next sentence, "You're not in trouble, Hogo, but it's important."

Feeling better now, Hogo nodded. "Alright mum," he said, walking around the bar-like table and making his way towards the stairs and up them, unconsciously hiding the can of beer he had taken from the fridge so that his mum didn't scold him. The hallway at the top of the stairs wasn't really a hallway, it was more like a large-ish square with four door attached to it. His room was behind the door second from the left, the first from the left being the only guest room in the house. There had been more, guest rooms that is, but they had been converted into en-suites for the three other rooms (and a moderately sized walk-in-wardrobe for Asuka - she had begged and won Akihiko over almost instantly), the remaining guest room already having one.

He pushed open the door and stepped in, his room being the second smallest and typically teenage. The guest room's en-suite took up some of the space in his room, the bottom left corner, but Hogo didn't really case. Chucking down his bag and kicking the door shut, he walked past his bed and up to the wardrobe; he didn't have many clothes inside as he wasn't really bothered about what he wore, and so he didn't hesitate when pulling out a pair of black jeans and a blue top, while being careful not to spill any of his drink.

Asuka could spend - and spent - ages on picking outfits for the day. He couldn't understand how or_ why_ she did.

It must be a girl thing, his mind concluded, and he smiled, happy with that answer.

Moments later he was downstairs again and sitting next to his mum having waved the can in her face to see what kind of reaction he would get; she didn't react negatively and so he knew he was safe with the alcohol, throwing himself down next to her on the leather sofa.

"What's up then?" he asked, peering questioningly at his mum.

Hirona turned off the TV, bored with the news and adding to the tense atmosphere that had settled in the house. "Your father gave me a call today," she started, Hogo taking another nervous sip of his drink. "And told me that he had spotted at least four Hollow roaming around the area."

Hogo groaned at this piece of information. Hirona knew how he was feeling. "And I just wanted to tell you to be careful, okay Hogo? We expected there to be less Hollows in a place much smaller than Tokyo, but so far we're seen more. I know they come after you a lot, and so I wanted to warn you."

Hogo nodded, knowing full well how dangerous those creatures could be. "Thanks mum, I'll be careful."

She seemed to deflate at those words, happy that she didn't have to worry any - "But that doesn't mean you can take Zangetsu with you to school."

"Why not?" Hogo shot back, staring at his mother as if she were stupid. "If there are more Hollow around then I need to protect myself!"

"I know that Hogo," she said, giving him the same look. "But you can't take a katana to school - I know you're perfectly capable of using it, and using it safely, and it's not that I don't trust you with it - "

"Then what?" asked Hogo, the volume of his voice increasing with his frustration. "I'm not exactly going to go around cutting students' heads off!"

"Hogo!" Hirona snapped, and Hogo shrunk under her disapproving glare. "_That_ was uncalled for."

"Sorry mum."

"But how do you think the school would react to one of their students bringing in a battle-ready twenty-eight inch sword to class everyday? And I can't exactly tell them that you're being hunted by ghosts when they ask me why you need it!"

Well, when she put it like that...

"Fine," he huffed, crossing his arms and sloshing his drink down himself in the process. He cursed, and Hirona laughed, covering her mouth with her hand to try and hide it.

"Go and clean yourself up," she suggested, shaking her head at his antics. "I'll call you when dinner's ready, okay?"

The conversation, it appeared, was over. He nodded, still grumbling under his breath about having to change, and downed the rest of the drink before heading back upstairs. His mum had moved from the sofa when he got back, and if the steam milling around the room like a rain cloud was any indication then she had just gone down into the basement. He shrugged and meandered through the sofas, kicking down the trap door that his mum had forgotten to close, and slid open the door nearest the front wall (two doors to the left of the hallway leading to the garage).

The long room looked exactly like a dojo, which was good, because that was what it was. They had had a dojo in their old house, it had been smaller due to living in Tokyo, but it was safe to say that Hogo had been smaller when he was first allowed in it, and the compact size had grown on him.

Theoretically speaking, of course.

Reaching the sword stand by the wall, Hogo grasped the red and black hilt of the katana on the left. Zangetsu was a couple inches shorter than his father's blade, but Hogo didn't mind as he tested the weight he knew so well before making his way over to the middle of the dojo.

He sat, Zangetsu coming down to rest across his lap.

He could see why his mum didn't want him to take it to school, but he still wished he could. Not to show off or anything, but to honestly keep himself safe. If what his father said was true, then there was a fair number of Hollow lurking about. None of the family knew why he was targeted often by the vile black creatures, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had learned to live with the danger, much like the 'Ichigo' of his dreams had.

Admittedly he had first thought that 'Ichigo' was his own representation of himself - he could see the similarities between them like stars on a cloudless night. The scary coincidence of calling his katana 'Zangetsu' when he had gotten it for his tenth birthday and the fact that 'Ichigo' used a butt-kicking blade called 'Zangetsu' only boosted this belief. However, as the dreams had progressed, Hogo began to doubt this belief; 'Ichigo' attempted things that he would never even consider doing, and fought people that Hogo knew he would have run from in a blink of an eye. 'Ichigo' was far braver than he.

That piece of knowledge sometimes reminded itself to Hogo when he was feeling down. During that gloomy time, sometimes, just sometimes, he wished he _was_ more like 'Ichigo'. He was already halfway there - eyes, height, personality, temper, but the other half of 'Ichigo'... well...

Occasionally Hogo found himself wanting a person like 'Tōshirō' in his life.

The white haired taicho had only appeared to Hogo some time last year - previously he had just been a blur of black and white with the sweetest voice and an icy attitude. Hogo had been intrigued with this mysterious stranger and so hoped every night to get a glimpse of him; it had taken a little while but, not soon enough to the teenager, the white hair and innocent face of 'Tōshirō Hitsugaya' had revealed itself to him.

'Ichigo' had fallen in love. Hogo supposed he had too.

Was that... wrong? To fall in love with an imaginary person? An imaginary person who felt so _real_ at the same time - so important, so solid, so _there_. But the taicho had been taken by 'Ichigo' anyway - Hogo found himself feeling oddly jealous.

'Tōshirō' was clever, calm, collected, sarcastic, selfless, graceful, and gentle all at once. He was a born leader with a heart locked away in a far away place; a powerful warrior who really just wanted nothing more then to be loved. 'Tōshirō' was everything Hogo had ever wanted in a lover - that was another thing he and 'Ichigo' agreed on quite firmly.

Hogo huffed and ran his fingertips along the smooth metal of Zangetsu's blade. At least if _he_ found himself a boyfriend -

His thoughts stopped there, abruptly like a frightened horse.

Was he..._ gay? _That thought had never occurred to him before - he _was_ in love with a guy, despite a dead and imaginary guy, it was still a guy. He supposed it didn't matter really, if his choice of life-partner was a male or a female; 'Ichigo' and 'Tōshirō' had proved that love could blossom no matter the sex, and no matter the circumstance.

Homosexual relationships were forbidden in this dreamed up world of 'Soul Society'. Something about tradition didn't get along with same-sex relationships - Hogo thought it was bullshit. 'Ichigo' had loudly agreed.

The shinigami wanted to tell the _world_ about his promising relationship with the tenth division dragon. He was repeatedly told to shut up.

'Tōshirō', though, had made his point, and a very good one it was. Despite the flurry of friends and companions that buzzed around the pair like flies, somehow the two had managed to keep it quiet. Hogo knew that 'Ichigo' had not liked being so secretive, but when his lovers' well-being was on the line (and his - but he couldn't give a damn about his life) he had subdued any complaints and learned to live with it.

They had been together for one hundred years or so before they got married. Hogo had seen the wedding; one of the only good dreams he had ever had. It was something that happened in the spur of the moment; 'Ichigo' had proposed on a windy autumn afternoon in Karakura and, while heading back to the inner-regions of the busy town, they had passed a lone church on the side of the path.

_/"Hey, can you perform marriage ceremonies?"/_

One 'just right' moment led to another, and the two newly engaged shinigami found themselves taking vows in front of a group of strangers.

_/"Oh it's so lovely - young love at it's best!"_

_"Nana, this isn't a soap-opera you know."_

_"Oh shut up Kazu, can't you see I'm crying here? Here we are, having just witnessed a truly wonderful moment in two people's lives and you're scolding me for thinking it's beautiful. Why couldn't've our wedding have been this magical?"_

_"...Well I thought it was, to be honest..."/_

Hogo chuckled softly at the banter between the elderly couple that replayed in his mind. The poor woman who was sat at the front of the church had cried her eyes out during the wedding; 'Ichigo' had whispered to his new husband after their passionate kiss about feeling insanely guilty about it. 'Tōshirō' had rolled his eyes and pushed 'Ichigo's towards her, prompting him to give the sobbing lady a well deserved hug. The other people in the room had offered their congratulations to the Kurosaki's - now that there were two of them - one young man even fished into his pocket and pulled out a handful of money, telling the couple to go and buy something as a gift.

This action seemed like a good idea to everybody else, and 'Ichigo' suddenly found himself holding a fair amount of cash with the instructions to go and 'buy something nice'. He had blushed and stammered and promised he would, leading his husband out of the church hand-in-hand after another round of congratulations.

"Hey Hogo-nii!"

Irritated at the sudden interruption, the seventeen year old turned to the opening doors and sent a glare his sister's way. She faulted upon seeing him with Zangetsu lying on his lap, and spluttered out nervously, "Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you were meditating."

Breaking somebody from their meditation was a big no-no in the Jikkō household.

"It's alright Asuka," mumbled Hogo, lying through his teeth. "What did you want?"

She perked up at this - Hogo could imagine a tail wagging.

"You have _got_ to go down town at some point - there's this _amazing_ sweet shop!" Asuka cried, throwing her arms wide in exaggeration. Her eyes were filled with delight and Hogo rolled his, muttering under his breath about how it was 'always about sweets'.

When it became clear to the boy that she was waiting for an answer, he stood and started to make his way over to the sword-stand. "That's wonderful Asuka," he drooled, carefully resting Zangetsu beside his father's blade. "Will dinner be ready soon?"

She huffed, blowing her long hair away from her face in annoyance. "You're so miserable Hogo, lighten up a bit."

Making his way towards her, he snorted. "I'm perfectly happy," he said, much to her disbelief. "Now if you would excuse me..."

His words were final, like they usually were. Unwillingly, she stepped out of the way and let him back into the living room where the PS3 was waiting to begin.

* * *

><p>Hogo cursed his bad luck and dived into a small alleyway, the monstrous black shape behind him tried to do the same but crashed into the walls of the two shops that the teenager was currently pressed against. Realizing that he was safe for a moment, Hogo let out a breath that he hadn't noticed he was holding, and fished his mobile out of his pocket. It had taken a week of new teachers, new classes, and new friends, but the Hollows had finally found him. It was Friday now and Hogo had been on his way home from school; the Hollow that had seen and chased him was clawing at the walls, reaching for him with one of it's thick blotchy hands, but the seventeen year old pushed the image from his mind and dialled up his home number.<p>

Hogo swore when the ground beneath him shook under the Hollow's furious weight. Said Hollow let out a ear-splitting cry, and Hogo hissed in pain as the phone on the other end of the line was picked up.

_"Akihiko Jikkō speaking,"_ came the voice of his father, and Hogo yelled down the line; "You said I would be _fine_! You said I wouldn't _need_ to take Zangetsu to school!"

His father was quick on the uptake. _"Calm down Hogo, tell me where you are and I'll come and get you."_

"I don't _know_ where I am!" Hogo roared, flinching when he heard the scraping of the Hollow's rotting nails against the brick of the wall. "That's the problem! _Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas any more!_ And there's a Hollow reaching for me and I haven't got anything to defend myself with! I haven't exactly got a pair of ruby slippers for me to slip and and take me home!"

Akihiko cursed, used to his son's anger and knowing that he was only fuming because he was frightened. _"Okay, Hogo, listen to me. Look around, tell me what you see. Do you remember anything you walked past? A park? A certain shop - ?"_

"I'm in an alleyway! The only things I can see are two walls, a dumpster, and a big black hand!" The Hollow pressed forward again, his fingers getting closer and closer to the panicking teenager; Hogo scrambled away, curling up tighter and shouting, "Help me!"

Akihiko was fumbling around on the other end of the line. _"Alright, alright Hogo, just sit tight, I'm on my way, I'm on my way. Don't hang up on me, okay? Just keep talking and - "_

"Having a bit of trouble are we boy?"

Hogo gasped at the sudden appearance of the stranger before him, blocking out the rambling of his father as he took in the man's appearance. The black coat that fanned out around his dark green trousers and shirt created a sense of power you wouldn't expect from a tall, lightly-tanned man, his pale blonde hair flicking out from underneath his striped green and white hat, and his shadowed grey eyes bore down into Hogo's brown as a lopsided smile stretched onto his face.

Lost for words, Hogo stared.

The man seemed pleased with his lack of response and turned away from him, the white diamonds on the edge of the black coat brushed past Hogo's face and blinded him for a moment; just enough time, it seemed, for the man to leap away in a flash and cut down the approaching Hollow. He nodded to himself in victory, or maybe something more, and flicked his wrist slightly, the blade in his hands glowing blood red for a second before changing back into a wooden cane. His hat was tipped in Hogo's direction, but by the time Hogo could see again, both the Hollow and the stranger were gone.

* * *

><p>After the twentieth 'are you okay?' aimed towards him, Hogo had had enough. His father had found him still slumped against the alleyway wall about fifteen minutes after their phone call and had proceeded to check, double-check, and triple-check him for injuries, asking if he was okay, what happened, and why he suddenly went quiet on the other end of the phone. Hogo answered all of the questions truthfully, explaining about the strange men that just <em>appeared<em> before him and made the Hollow disappear - he assumed anyway, not being able to see at the time and all, but Akihiko didn't seem convinced that he was fine. Dragging him to the car had been child's play, and the worried red-head had gotten his wife to check Hogo also.

Everybody kept milling around and asking him stupid questions, and now he had had enough.

"I'm _alright_, stop _bloody_ asking me!" he roared, throwing his arms up over his head to emphasize his point. The two frantic parents fell silent at the harsh words, but Hogo couldn't give a damn if they felt insulted or not, shooting up from the sofa he was trapped on. Storming away from the rest of his family he slipped on his shoes with angry difficulty and thundered out of the house; the way the door slammed was like a crack of lightning to anybody near enough to hear the storm.

He just walked.

Down the driveway and out of the gate, he took a left from his house and followed the concrete path, brooding and kicking up stones whenever he found one. He didn't know how long he walked for or where he went exactly, choosing between left and right was a simple thing, but eventually he ended up surrounded by shops and chatting people.

That was _not_ what he had hoped to find when escaping from his parents. Still, at least here nobody knew him on this Friday afternoon, and he glowed in happiness at this fact as he began to stroll past the shops, weaving in and out of the people as he went. Absentmindedly he wondered if he would be able to find that sweet shop his sister had mentioned at the beginning of the week, and he smiled at the image of his parents' faces when he came back with an armful of chocolate after his violent exit.

The thought of chocolate reminded him that he had missed lunch today; his stomach growled at him in hunger and he frowned, looking around to see if there was a cafe or something where he could get something to eat. What his eyes settled on was most certainly _not_ food, but a mop of black and white hair over by a small jewelery shop. Knowing you could spot Kakusu a mile away and so already knowing exactly who it was, he began to make his way over to his friend - er, classmate...

Okay, he wasn't sure. Kakusu was generally a friendly person, he was just a tad withdrawn and rather shy, and so made it hard for people to get their facts right about him. But he was nice. A friend. Maybe... In his eyes anyway.

"Hey, Kakusu!" he called when he got into what he guessed was hearing distance. Kakusu, who had been looking at his feet at the time, jumped up in surprise to see Hogo making his way over, a huge smile on his face and his glasses slipping off of his nose. He smiled too, albeit a smaller smile, but Hogo was satisfied with that. Hogo came to a stop opposite the other boy, Kakusu's 5'4" noticeably shorter than his 5'11", and his grin couldn't help but widen at how adorable the multi-coloured hair boy was because of it.

"Exploring the town?" Kakusu asked, looking much happier then he had five seconds ago.

"Nah," said Hogo with a chuckle, pushing his glasses back up onto his nose. "Escaping my parents."

Kakusu snorted, in disbelief or amusement Hogo wasn't sure. "Rebel," he said, giving the teenager a sly look from behind his sweeping fringe. Hogo rubbed the back of his head nervously, blushing. "Well," he said slowly, unsure, picking up his words a moment later; "What about you? What are you doing here?"

"Exactly the same as you," Kakusu said curtly. "Mind, you went home," he commented, indicating his head to the lack of a school bag. "I on the other hand didn't see the point."

The innocent teenage part of Hogo's mind read this sentence as normal rebellious behaviour that one would have at that age. However the other part of Hogo's mind, the part that had experienced war within his own head, jabbed at him and rung great, noisy alarm bells at the underlying message in the student's words.

_/"Don't look at me like that, I'm fine Ichigo, really."/_

And because Hogo was the oblivious person he was, he turned deaf to those alarms and carried on like normal. "Well then how about we avoid our parents together? I was looking for some place to get something to eat - any recommendations?"

Kakusu, for some reason, looked embarrassed. "Ah." Hogo rose an eyebrow in question. "I don't eat out that often," Kakusu continued sheepishly. "But 'The Little Dragon' is pretty good, or so I've heard - it's a Chinese buffet just round the corner."

That sounded good to the hungry teenager. "Great," he said. "Lead the way." He gestured the other to begin walking, and so Kakusu did.

Much to Hogo's delight a few minutes later, Kakusu's words held true. 'The Little Dragon' really was just around the corner and, upon approaching it they saw that it seemed to be fairly empty at this time of afternoon. "Smells good," said Hogo, pushing open one of the glass doors. The step inside he took caused one of the waiter's to look up in his direction, but he didn't notice for he had turned around to ask, "Aren't you coming in?" to the boy that hadn't moved from his spot on the pavement.

"I don't have any money," mumbled the shy teenager, picking at his nails nervously.

"That's fine," said Hogo, reaching into one of the zipped up pockets in his jacket and pulling out a wallet. He waved it in Kakusu's face to get his next point across, "I have plenty."

The red on Kakusu's cheeks was so dark now that it was almost lost in his black parts of his hair. "I - I won't be able to pay you back - "

"Nonsense," Hogo snapped quickly, putting his wallet back into his pocket and then reaching over and pulling Kakusu into the restaurant so to not keep the waiting lady doing exactly that any longer. "My treat."

Kakusu spluttered his defiance as he was lead to one of the tables, but his stomach made a loud protest which sealed his fate. After thanking the waiter, Hogo shot Kakusu a concerned look. "Your stomach sounds like it hasn't had any food in a while - and coke please," he added to the waiter.

Kakusu ordered the same, and the woman left the two boys at the table. "I - er - I'm not usually hungry..."

Hogo didn't look very pleased with this, but he let it slide. "Better get you full up then, come on," he said cheerfully, getting up and pointing over to the waiting buffet. "Eat as much as you like."

"That's a given in a buffet," Kakusu mumbled, having realized he had lost the argument about whether or not he should stay. Hogo smiled and cheered inside his head as his friend followed him towards the food, feeling like 'Ichigo' had when he managed to persuade 'Tōshirō' to go on a date.

* * *

><p>Hogo set down his empty glass at the same time the waiter set down the bill. He nodded his thanks and picked up the little receipt on the tray, covering up the price on the paper before Kakusu could glance at it.<p>

"Nu-uh," he said with a smile as Kakusu flushed. "I'm paying, you don't need to know the price."

"But - "

"I thought we'd already gone through this," said Hogo as he retrieved his wallet from his jacket. "You don't have to pay, and you don't have to pay me back. Simple as." He laid some money down on the tray and then pushed it away from him.

Kakusu didn't look very happy, but he finished off his food and laid his chopsticks neatly on the plate. Hogo saw the look on his face and frowned as the waiter came back and took the tray. "Surely you should be happy that somebody's paying for your meal?" he asked, putting his wallet away.

Sighing, the other replied hesitantly, "I - I don't like being burden. I can look after - "

_/"I don't need looking after Kurosaki! I'm not a child!"/_

Hogo held up his hands and cut him off. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who said anything about being a burden?"

_/"Bullshit Tōshirō, you can't do everything yourself. And I want to look after you, have you got a problem with that?"/_

Kakusu's mouth clicked shut and he stood sharply, almost knocking over his chair in the process. "Thank you for the meal," he said, but his voice didn't sound very sincere. Hogo watched him with wide eyes as he nodded and walked away without another word, and the short teenager had gotten to the door before he jumped up from his seat and hurried out after him, ignoring the lady that blurted something about 'change' from behind the counter.

By the time he stood at the edge of the pavement opposite the restaurant, Kakusu had disappeared. Frustrated and thoroughly confused, Hogo ran a hand through his choppy hair and let out a growl, wondering what the hell had just happened.

Somehow he had insulted his friend, but, thinking back to the conversation, he couldn't think of anything rude that he had said. He kicked an empty can in anger and watched it roll into the road, cursing himself under his breath and wishing that the painful clench in his heart would go away.

Argh! Kakusu was so complicated! What went through that boy's head, sometimes he wondered. Why would he think of himself as a burden? Was that the reason he didn't let people in? Found it hard to show his emotions?

Was that the reason he was like 'Tōshirō'?

Hogo bit his lip at this thought and began to walk. He was being silly. Just because he wanted a person like the tenth division taicho in his life didn't mean he should compare everybody he met to him. So he had the same colour eyes, a similar personality, and was still pretty short. That meant nothing.

_Nothing._

**You're lying to yourself.**

The voice he that echoed inside of his head was wise, deep, old, and gave Hogo the sense of protection and trust, not that he knew why, and he snorted at the truthful words, shaking his head. _Shut up Zanget -_

A car honked it's horn from nearby and Hogo jumped violently, tripping over his own feet with a yelp. A couple of people chuckled and he ignored them, straightened up and pretending that had not just happened. His previous thoughts forgotten, he turned a glare to his dad's car that had pulled over by the side of the road, the owner sitting in the driver's seat and beckoning him over.

Hogo rolled his eyes and walked over, the window of the passenger side slipping down. "What do you want?" he asked when he approached, and Akihiko leaned over and opened the door, ignoring his son's rude question.

"Get in."

Slightly alarmed at the urgency in his dad's voice, he made no complaint and dropped into the car, pulling the door closed just as the car began to move. He hurriedly put on his seat belt and then turned to his father. "What's wrong?" he asked, having expected to be in trouble.

"That friend of yours," began his father, making a turn. "With the funny hair. He's been attacked by a Hollow."

"What?" Hogo shouted, outraged. "Where?"

"Not far from here," said Akihiko, taking one of his hands off of the steering wheel briefly to point out of the window. "Actually, I was surprised that you weren't with him."

_I was._

"Is he okay?" Hogo asked, fear gripping at his heart. He would never forgive himself if Kakusu ended up in hospital just because he couldn't be bothered to run after him. "How did you find him?"

"Your mother and I just happened to be driving past at the time, looking for you. She got out to help him. When I left he was a bit banged up but still standing - he was pretty good at dodging."

"Dodging?" repeated Hogo, but Akihiko didn't reply as he pulled over and parked by a green in the middle of some residential houses. Hogo unbuckled his seat belt without needing to be told and was out of the car in record time, jogging over to where his mm was tending to a bloodied Kakusu. Both of them looked up when he approached, but Kakusu quickly looked back down again upon seeing who had arrived.

"He'll be okay Hogo," said Hirona, her careful hands bandaging up Kakusu's left arm. "It's a good thing we have a first-aid kit in the car at all times."

Hogo nodded his agreement and knelt down beside his friend. "Is it broken?" he questioned, indicating his head towards the wound Hirona was wrapping.

She shook her head, and Hogo sighed in relief. "Just a really big scratch," she assured, and then she smiled at Kakusu. "You did a very good job with avoiding injury, Sairai-kun, have you - have you encountered Hollow before?"

That was the question running through Hogo's mind too. Yet Kakusu just gave a shy grunt and left it at that. Hirona didn't seem to mind, finishing off her work and cutting away the excess bandage, putting everything that she had used into the green box it had come out of.

"Leave that on for a couple of days and then either get me, Hogo, or the school nurse to change them for you. Okay Sairai-kun?" she smiled sweetly at him, and Kakusu found himself blushing faintly as he nodded. "Good, do you want a lift home?" she asked as the three of them got to their feet.

"No ma'am, I'm okay," Kakusu said politely, shaking his head. "Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome. If you run into any trouble again, feel free to contact us or talk to Hogo. You have his number don't you?"

Kakusu nodded this time, and Hirona seemed satisfied. "Come on then Hogo, Asuka should have finished up dinner by the time we get home." She looked at her son, scanning her eyes up and down his top, spying stains that looked suspiciously like food. "Unless... you've already eaten?"

"Yeah," Hogo said sheepishly. "Kakusu showed me a really nice Chinese."

Hirona seemed surprised, and she turned her exclamation to Kakusu, only to find that the boy beside her was gone. Confused, her soft eyes widening, she turned back around to Hogo. "Where - ?"

Hogo, having watched Kakusu sneak away, just chuckled. "He does that," he said, smiling sadly. "He does that a lot."

* * *

><p><em>"No! No, let him go! Let him go you bastards! Don't touch him! Don't - Tōshirō! <strong>Tōshirō!<strong>"_

* * *

><p>He was still screaming when he woke, sweaty forehead and sticky hair, bolting upright in his bed and gasping for breath. He whimpered at the emptiness of his room - <em>so lonely...<em> - and curled up into a ball, trembling hands clutching his hair painfully tight. His bedroom door opened a moment later and footsteps rushed towards him - Hirona slipped onto the bed and reached for her son, holding him as he began to sob.

"Sshh Hogo," she whispered, rocking him like a child. "It's alright sweetie, it's alright..."

"So bad," the teenager mumbled, hiding his face in his mother's shirt. "So bad - they took him away and I - I couldn't - I was reaching for him and he - "

Hirona kissed his forehead and continued to rub his back gently. "It's over now Hogo, they can't hurt you any more."

Hogo went rigid in her grasp. "It's not me I'm worried about!" he argued, unknown anger bubbling up inside of him. "It's him - it's _Tōshirō_ - I couldn't protect him - !"

He whimpered again and Hirona cuddled him, used to his delirious blabbering that came after a particularly nasty dream - it was almost as if her son was_ somebody else_. "It's okay Hogo, you're safe, and - and wherever he is I'm sure he's safe too."

She had no idea if this was true, but it seemed to calm her son. He still trembled and shook, but his tears began to dry up with great, noisy sniffs. "You promise?" he mumbled, sounding much younger than he actually was. "He's safe?"

"He's safe," assured Hirona, kissing his forehead again. "He's safe."

* * *

><p>Monday meant Maths. And Maths meant Kakusu. Well, Hogo had to survive the ups and downs of Psychology first - or maybe he was referring to the teacher? He guessed it depended on 'cake or no cake' - and once he had done that he laughed with Mana all the way to their classroom, and found their seats at the back of the class where their folders were waiting.<p>

He wasn't sure why, but he was incredibly thankful when he saw Kakusu walk into the room, barely arriving in time to deem himself 'not late' by the bell. Anzai-sensei shot him a look but said nothing, yet Kakusu apologised anyway and hurried to his place beside Hogo.

"Turn to page two hundred and seven," rang the teacher's loud voice throughout the classroom. "There's no starter today as we will be continuing from last lesson. If you can't remember what to do then come and see me, but I'm pretty sure you're all capable of remembering a few days back."

The class set down to work. Nobody called for help from Anzai-sensei, and she smiled happily and sat down at her desk.

Hogo opened the text book and found a pen from his pencil case, glancing to the side to see that Kakusu hadn't got any of his equipment out and was instead resting his head against the desk. "Are you okay Kakusu?" he asked. "Does your arm hurt?"

"It's not my arm," mumbled Kakusu. "And I'm fine, just a little tired. I overslept this morning and missed first period." His stomach growled a comment, and Hogo felt his eyebrows raise. "Sounds like you missed breakfast too."

"I'll be fine," assured the other. "Just let me sleep."

Hogo tapped his pen against the desk irritably. "I don't think sleeping in Maths is going to do you much good," he said with a frown. Kakusu grunted in response, and Hogo, following a sudden urge, lifted his left hand and began to run it through the boy's fine hair in a comforting manner. "Why don't you just go home?"

"Don't wanna," said Kakusu, already falling asleep under Hogo's gentle touch. "Not safe."

Not quite understanding what he meant, Hogo asked (while ignoring the alarm bells), "Are the Hollows still chasing you?"

Kakusu said something in reply, but Hogo couldn't make it out. He sighed and pulled his hand away from the slumbering student, hesitating a moment about whether or not he should call Anzai-sensei over, but decided against it. Instead he slipped off his jacket and carefully laid it over Kakusu's shoulders, returning to his work as best he could.

He shook the boy's shoulders just before the bell rung, and Kakusu moaned softly as he was disturbed from his peaceful slumber. Hogo thought he looked adorable in the waking up process, but didn't mention anything of the sort as Kakusu sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Where - ?"

"You're still in class," Hogo said, closing his book when the teacher told them to pack away. "You've been asleep for about an hour."

Kakusu nodded, taking some time to take in his surroundings. Once he was happy with what he saw, he fixed his sleepy teal eyes on the boy next to him. "Nobody noticed?"

Hogo smiled and nodded, taking his jacket off of his friend's shoulders and putting it on. "Nobody noticed. Now we've got break and then a free lesson - are you sure you don't want to go home?"

Watching Hogo put away his stuff, Kakusu denied. "I'm alright, really. I just had a bad night."

Me too, thought the blonde, zipping up his bag and standing. "Do you think I'll get in trouble for not doing any work?" came a quiet question, and he laughed.

"Kakusu, you're a genius, you're not going to get in trouble. Now, come on - " The bell rung, signalling the end of the second period. "Lets go and get you something to eat."

"I don't need anything."

"Liar," Hogo shot back instantly, grabbing Kakusu's thin wrist of his uninjured arm and dragging him out of the class. "You're practically skin and bones, you need food. When was the last time you had a decent meal?" Glancing back and seeing Kakusu open his mouth, Hogo added, "And I mean _decent_."

There was a pause in the conversation as Hogo led Kakusu down to the canteen. The blonde didn't say anything to push the other into an answer, but he was not going to let the matter drop. As break had only just started the canteen was fairly empty, and they wandered in without a word, Hogo searching around for something fatting for his friend to eat.

"With you," came Kakusu's answer at last, mumbled into the chatty atmosphere of the school. "On Friday."

Hogo tutted, disappointment written all over his face. "Honestly Kakusu, you _need_ to eat. Now grab a couple of things and I'll go and get you a chocolate milkshake - you like chocolate milkshake?"

Subdued now, Kakusu nodded. Hogo softened his gaze and gave the pale hand a squeeze before letting go and walking over to the small fridge where the sandwiches and drinks were. He pulled open the plastic door and picked up one of the large milkshakes, pausing in thought for a second before picking up another, shutting the door once he was done. When he turned back around Kakusu was standing behind him, a buttered crumpet and a moderately burnt slice of toast in his hands.

His shoulders dropped and he told Kakusu to go over to the till, making sure he did before going over to the food and picking up two more slices of toast, a bagel, and another crumpet. The dumpy lady at the till wisely said nothing when Hogo added this food (and the drinks) to the rest, accepting the money that the tall teenager gave her without a question.

"Grab the toast," Hogo said when Kakusu only picked up what he had been holding. He did so, and Hogo nudged him in the direction of an empty table. Once they were both seated and all the food was in the middle of the table, Hogo gave Kakusu one of the milkshakes, opening the other himself.

"You're - You're not expecting me to eat all this in twenty minutes are you?" asked Kakusu, staring in horror at the food from behind his snowy fringe.

"Cause not," said Hogo, grabbing the bagel. "This one's mine, the rest is yours."

He saw Kakusu's face drop dramatically, and he laughed whole-heartedly. "Come on now Kakusu, it's only - "

" - Two crumpets, one drink, and three slices of toast, yeah, I know, that's still a lot."

Hogo was already halfway through his cheese bagel at this point. "If that's your definition of 'a lot of food', you're in big trouble mister."

Kakusu looked at him, amused. Still, he picked up the nearest slice of toast and took a bite, the hawk-like gaze that Hogo was watching with him lessened upon seeing this, appeased with his progress. The silence that hovered around them for the next ten minutes was like a curious bird, and it was in that time that Hogo pondered on how to approach his next question. By the time Kakusu had nibbled his way through all of the toast and had started on one of the crumpets, he had decided to just go with it like he did with everything else,

"Kakusu, are you having problems are home?"

The bony jaw stopped chewing, and the curious bird flew away in fright.

"No," Kakusu said after a moment, swallowing his mouthful. "Everything's fine, everything's normal."

Hogo finished off his drink and bottled it back up. Not entirely sure about the answer he had been given, he pulled his bag up off of the floor and dug out his Psychology book and a pen. Kakusu watched him as he ripped out a blank page from the book and wrote something down on the sheet of paper.

"Here," Hogo said, handing Kakusu the paper and dropping the book and pen back into his bag. "My address, just in case."

_/"I'm always here if you want to talk, Tōshirō, or if you don't want to talk, that's fine, I'm still here if you need me."/_

Not quite sure what to say to that, Kakusu took the paper and folded it up, slipping it into his jacket pocket. He then finished off the crumpet he was eating and reached for the second, the last piece of food sitting on the table.

"See?" said Hogo, grinning widely when Kakusu ate half the crumpet in one. "You _could_ eat all that. Now, don't you feel better?"

Kakusu nodded happily through his chubby cheeks, swallowing and then popping the rest of the crumpet into his mouth. Hogo checked the time on the canteen clock and sighed, standing when Kakusu had finished all of the food. "Class starts soon," he said, annoyed, picking up both his bag and his empty bottle. Kakusu followed suit and Hogo threw the bottle into the bin as they passed, heading towards the library where they would be spending their free lesson. Kakusu drank his milkshake on the way with some difficulty, the motion of walking and the onslaught of students rushing down the corridors knocking him every so often and causing a challenge, but by the time they arrived in the library he was almost finished; the old librarian giving him a look as he drank the last little bit; he blushed nervously and threw the bottle in the nearest bin, Hogo chuckling quietly from in front as they walked towards the computers.

Hotaka and Evangeline called them over and Hogo waved back, feeling much better than he had first thing that morning.

* * *

><p>After a couple more weeks of careful planning, Fate finally started to pull some strings.<p>

The violent buzzing of his mobile vibrating against his bed-side table woke Hogo from his rare dreamless sleep, and he groaned loudly, turning over and slapping a searching hand against the desk for his mobile. When he couldn't find it he sat up, rubbing his eyes with his free hand and caught the little object before it fell off of the desk, flipping it open instantly and bringing it to his ear.

"What?" he snapped through the dark, irritated at being woken up at this ungodly hour.

_"Hogo it's Kakusu,"_ came the quiet voice from the other end which had no reason to introduce itself. Hogo groaned again in response, rubbing his forehead. "Do you _know_ what time it is?" he asked, glancing over at the clock.

_"Ah - I - I apologise, it's just that... you - you said I could come over if I needed to..."_

These words woke up the sleepy part of Hogo's brain, and he breathed down the phone, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

_"No - no, not hurt..."_ Kakusu trailed off for a moment; Hogo resisted the urge to chew at his nails in worry. _"It's just - I'm sixteen and pathetic but... I had a really bad dream and this - this feeling won't leave me alone, and I don't have... don't have anybody else to go to..."_

Hogo sighed. Kakusu quickly said, _"Sorry!" _in a way that gave the impression that he had done something wrong. "I'm not mad Kakusu," said Hogo, kicking off his duvet and swinging his legs off of the side of his bed. "Where are you? Do you want me to come and get you?"

_"I - I'm outside your house. I don't know the combination to get into the gate..."_

Growling in frustration, Hogo grabbed his glasses and hurried downstairs in nothing but his shirt and boxers. "Idiot," he hissed down the phone. "It's two o'clock in the _fucking morning_, what are you _doing_ standing outside in the cold?"

_"Um - waiting for the combination - ?"_

"I know that!" Hogo interrupted, having forgotten how literal Kakusu could be sometimes. "Alright, alright, I'm on my way," he said, slipping on a pair of shoes and not caring if they weren't his. "Just hang tight, I'll be there in a second."

And with that he hung up and wrenched open the door. Feeling a bit like a fool in his minimal clothing, he jogged down the driveway and watched as the sensitive lights came on as he passed them; being able to see made it much easier to locate the blob of black and white that he was friend. Kakusu was wearing only a little more than he and had his arms wrapped around himself to try and keep some of the night chill out; Hogo quickly opened the gate because of so and let him into the premises.

"You okay?" he asked after shutting the gate, wrapping one of his arms around the smaller boy's shoulders and guiding him up to the house.

"Better now," Kakusu mumbled. "Thanks for letting me in."

Hogo snorted as they reached the front door, allowing Kakusu to go in first. "As if I would leave you out here," he countered, pulling the door shut behind him. "Sorry the house is dark, the light switch is on your right."

Seconds later the lights flickered on to reveal Hirona standing at the bottom of the stairs in her dressing-gown. "Hogo?" she called when she spied the two boys taking off their shoes. "Is everything okay?"

"Kakusu's going to spend the night here, is that okay?" he asked, already leading the said boy in the direction of his mother.

Hirona looked confused but nevertheless welcoming to their guest. "Of course. Is there anything you need?" She asked this question more to the younger than the older, and Kakusu shook his head.

"No ma'am," he said. "I'm sorry for waking you."

She smiled at him and bid them both goodnight, trotting back up the stairs and into the master bedroom. Hogo then lead Kakusu up the stairs and into his room, turning on the lights as he did. Teal eyes went wide at the sight of the bedroom, and Hogo smiled. "Do you want to sleep in here with me? The bed's big enough. Or there's a guest room next door if you would prefer..."

"Can I stay with you?" Kakusu mumbled, and Hogo nodded, pushing the boy gently in the direction of the bed. "Make yourself comfortable," he said. "I left the light on downstairs so I'll be back in a second."

Kakusu nodded shyly and wandered over to the large bed against the left wall as Hogo went back downstairs. He slipped under the covers of the less tangled side, concluding that Hogo only slept on one side, and sat there awkwardly until the owner of the bed came back into the room.

"Alright?" the messy blonde asked, flicking off the room light and plunging it into darkness. He followed a memorized route to his side of the bed, feeling Kakusu shuffle over when he got back under the covers. By now their eyes had adjusted and Hogo slipped off his glasses and watched as Kakusu settled.

"Your bed is comfy," Kakusu said, as if he had never been in such a bed before.

"I'm glad you like it. So, you had a bad dream? Wanna talk about it?"

Facing each other Hogo could see Kakusu's eyes sadden, and his heart went out for the boy in a way that he had never experienced before. "I - I can't really explain it," said Kakusu, looking miserable. "I just remember being taken away by these people; being locked up like somebody on death row and feeling really,_ really_scared."

Hogo slid an arm around the boy's waist without hesitation, pulling him closer without a second thought. The action was strange, they both knew that, but something about it seemed so _right_ to them that neither of them complained. "You'll be safe with me, alright?" he reassured, beaming down at the surprised teal watching him. "Now go to sleep, it's Saturday tomorrow so don't worry about getting up."

That seemed like a good idea to Kakusu, so he shut his eyes and let sleep take him, cradled in strong, loving arms. Hogo watched him content, confused, and very concerned at the same time; content because of the situation they were in (call him a pervert and he'll break your nose), confused because he wondered how it had come to this, and very concerned because of the purple marks on his friends neck that looked oddly similar to the shape of a hand.

* * *

><p>Asuka and Akihiko were both pleasantly surprised at the extra guest sitting on the end of their bar-like table the next day, but they both bid the teenager 'good morning' and fell into their daily routine. Hogo was dishing up a 'healthy' fried breakfast for himself and his friend, and Akihiko hovered around him with a watering mouth, asking if he could have some most certainly more than once. Hogo, in response, swatted his father on the nose with the spatula and told him to make his own.<p>

Kakusu and Asuka both laughed merrily at the pair, Kakusu sipping a glass of water and Asuka rummaging through the fridge for some milk. While Hogo was serving up the eggs and chips ("I can't believe you're eating chips for breakfast, son." "So what? Chips are nice. Nothing wrong with having them for breakfast... As long as mum doesn't find out that is...") Akihiko grabbed a second spatula and stole one of the pieces of bacon from the pan when his son had his back turned, plopping the crispy meat directly into his mouth so that nobody else could have it.

Hogo turned around just in time to see the last of it disappear, and he shot his father a look. Akihiko chuckled and gave Hogo a thumbs up before reaching around him and taking a handful of chips from one of the plates.

"Oi!" shouted Hogo, holding the pan and the spatula and so unable to do anything.

Akihiko laughed again and ran from the kitchen under Hogo's wrathful glare; Kakusu was laughing too and Hogo's anger died down, unable to be mad at anything when he got to hear that sound.

"He'll be back for more," said Asuka, pouring the milk into her bowl of cereal. "So eat what you've got while you can."

Kakusu smiled at this piece of advice and dug in when Hogo presented him with the plate. Seconds later both Asuka and Hogo joined him at the table, the elder moaning over a cup of freshly made coffee.

"I can't see how you can drink that stuff," commented Kakusu, indicating his head towards the black coffee sitting beside Hogo's plate.

Hogo looked insulted. "Coffee is wonderful!" he argued. "How can you _not_ like it?"

Kakusu snorted. "I'm more of a tea person myself. Green tea is even better."

The blonde made a face, sticking out his tongue in disgust. "Ekk. I can't see how you can drink _that_ stuff."

The rest of breakfast passed smoothly, Akihiko coming back into the kitchen at some point and examining the boy's plates for any scrap of food left - he dived for some of Kakusu's chips but Hogo scared him off with the spatula - and Hirona made her way down about ten minutes after that looking thoroughly refreshed from her shower.

By half ten Asuka had disappeared to her room, leaving Hogo and Kakusu still chatting at the kitchen table, Hirona cooking her own breakfast before them. Somehow the conversation had turned to genetics, god knows how that had happened, and now the three of them were in a heated discussion about chromosomes.

"...passes down the genes - so you, Kakusu, would have gotten your vivid eye colour from one of your parents, or maybe a grandparent," said Hirona, checking on her boiled egg. Kakusu frowned at this, thinking about his family.

"I can't think of anybody that had teal eyes in my family though," he mumbled, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the table.

"Really?" Hirona asked. "That's strange - where else would you have gotten it from then?"

"I didn't think there _was_ anywhere else I could have gotten it from," noted Kakusu, but he was unheard as Hogo commented sarcastically, "His _dreams_ mum. He just_wished_ for teal eyes and got it."

Hirona snorted, shaking her head at her son that was finishing off his third coffee and pondering over whether or not he should get another. She reached over and snatched that cup from him, holding it away from his desperate grasp. "Alright Hogo, no more coffee for you."

He whined and Kakusu let a bubbly laugh out. Hirona smiled an open mouth smile, looking over at him, but then faltered, the rest of her laugh catching in her throat. Hogo noticed first, leaning right over the table and still reaching for his cup, and asked, "You alright there?"

Hirona shook the feeling off, Kakusu staring at her worriedly. "It's just that..." she began, smiling again and pushing her son back into his seat. "Your eyes, Sairai-kun, look just like those of a boy that Hogo draws quite often..."

Kakusu blinked, clearly fazed with this piece of information. "Draws? Hogo has drawing talent?"

"Hey!" Hogo cried, affronted, whipping around to glare at his friend. "I can be good at something you know!"

"News to me," Hirona and Kakusu mumbled together, and Hogo sat back in his seat, crossing his arms dramatically and pouting. "He'll have to show you," continued Hirona to Kakusu. "His work is usually quite private, see, but I'm sure if you ask nicely..."

They both turned sweet looks to Hogo. He rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at his mother. "Fine, fine, you win. You know I can't say no." Hirona smiled in victory. Hogo turned to Kakusu, slipping off of his seat. "Come on then, they're in the art room."

"Art room?" Kakusu echoed, following Hogo through the house. "You have a room just for art?"

Hogo's grin was contagious. "I have an art room _just for me_," he corrected. "I decorated it myself and everything. But what mum said was right, my stuff's pretty private to myself - considering... well. Just considering."

Kakusu didn't push for information, heeding Hogo's instructions and heading into the first room when he opened a door that led to a long corridor.

The sight inside was breathtaking. Ignoring the paintbrushes and pencils and other equipment that lay scattered around the room, canvas hung from the ceiling off of great metal hooks, huge, complicated paintings and drawings presented to the eye in such a imaginative way. There were three easels lining the left wall, each of them with an uncompleted piece of work leaning against them, but what really caught Kakusu's perceptive eyes were each of the four walls that Hogo had obviously hand decorated.

Spring was the wall where the door was located; a raven haired lady with lavender eyes was sitting by a koi pond and surrounded by shocking pink sakura trees; a red-headed man was walking towards her from the right, waving and calling her silent name. Summer was the left wall; partly hidden behind the easels were buildings, square and simple, and on top of one of the tiled roofs were two young girls with their backs to the viewer, one with dark hair and one with light, sitting close together and pointing up at the magical array of fireworks shattering above them. Autumn was the wall opposite the door; under a grande tree a strawberry-blonde woman wearing a pink scarf was throwing crisp ginger leaves at a laughing man with '69' tattooed on the side of his face, both of them seemed madly in love with both each other and the season. And finally winter was the right wall; a deep frozen lake surrounded by snow-kissed trees had two people standing upon it, the taller man had astounding orange hair and was in the process of falling on his face; the shorter person beside him was laughing, spiky white hair and pale skin blending into the background, but Kakusu could see the sharp teal eyes shining in happiness at the clumsy display his companion was delivering.

He was so engrossed in those eyes that he didn't notice Hogo wander further into the room and retrieve an A3 sketch pad, carrying it back to Kakusu under one of his arms. He flipped it open to a random page and tapped Kakusu on the shoulder; the boy spun around to see a tonal drawing of the white haired person on the 'winter' wall and he gasped, almost not catching Hogo's words;

"Here he is, his name's 'Tōshirō - "

" - Hitsugaya'," interrupted Kakusu, mouth and eyes impossibly wide. Hogo faltered at the blurted words, stepping back in surprise. "How - ?"

Again Kakusu cut him off, this time with a rushed, "Oh my god," before black and white hair brushed past Hogo's face and Kakusu was out of the room and bolting down the corridor.

Chocolate brown eyes blinked.

The wise voice in his head whispered.

The sketch pad hit the floor with an empty 'thud', and Hogo was racing after his friend.

_/"Why are you running from your fears Tōshirō? That's not like you."_

_"I'm not running, Kurosaki, I'm just... I'm just..."/_

"Kakusu! Kakusu!"

His mother looked over from the kitchen when the two boys ran out of the house, her mouth open and the glass halfway to her lips. She blinked, turning her head to stare at the wide open front door, frowning. Was something wrong with Sairai-kun? Was he hurt? Her shoulders slumped and she returned to her meal - whatever the problem was, Hogo would be able to take care of it, she was sure.

(And anyway, she wasn't fast enough to run after them)

Hogo could feel the blood pounding in his ears, his heart was thumping against his chest and his legs were yelling at him to 'stop'; his head was screaming at him to 'go'. Kakusu may be fast but Hogo knew, sprinting down the pavement from his house, that he was damn well faster. However Kakusu had the advantage with knowing the streets of Karakura like the back of his hand; Hogo just had to guess a turn and hope he was right.

It was far too early in the morning for people to be milling about and so the desperate teenager listened for any sounds - minus the constant beat of his feet - that would indicate exactly where his friend had gone - a frightened cat, a surprised dog, the creaking of an old rusted gate -

A yell, swearing - another yell? Feminine? Had Kakusu run into some woman?

A scream.

Hogo took a left -

Kakusu looked on the verge of a panic attack, his feet threatening to slip out from underneath him as he struggled, pushing against the smooth firm hands grasping his shoulders - purple nail vanish digging into his shirt - shaking him back and forth - her delicate face was inches from his, her sky blue eyes wide and, if she wasn't causing harm to his friend, Hogo would have felt sympathetic to the unshed tears gathering in them.

"Get off me! I said _get off me_ you fucking _strange_ - "

_/"You're... the lady from..."/_

"Oi!" Hogo shouted, standing further down the street. The young woman wearing the ridiculous black outfit - holy _fuck_ was that a katana? - snapped her head over to him at his call, her mouth dropping open even further -

- Heck she looked bloody well like that painting -

"Ich - ?" she began, a voice as sweet as her looks, but Kakusu wailed again - a painful wail that echoed in Hogo's ears - and, eyes blazing in fury, Hogo ran forward to get him away from the woman who _dared _-

_/"By order of the Central 46 and the Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryūsai, one Ichigo Kurosaki, and one _Tōshirō Hitsugaya are_ hear-by under arrest for breaking the homosexual law of 708 - put in place by - "_

_"Oh shut the hell up, I don't want to know who made the fucking law."_

_"...As you wish. Do you have anything to say before you are taken into custody?"_

_"..."_

_"...It's Tōshirō Kurosaki, you fuckers."/_

The woman yelped when Hogo wrenched her arms off of Kakusu, shoving her backwards with a growl Hogo wrapped his arms around his friend protectively, pulling him away and putting himself between the pair. He turned a furious pair of brown eyes towards her, "Touch him again and I'll put you in hospital. Tōshirō is mine, not yours."

(Hogo didn't notice his slip of tongue)

She did, gasping and staring at them as if she once knew them - once knew them before they _changed_ - and then shook her head, laughing to herself sadly before disappearing in a blur.

Hogo remained standing on the side of the street for some time, his mind totally blown and his friend limp in his arms. Eventually he shook his head and scooped the other up into his arms, beginning his silent journey back home to explain the chaos to his parents.

Just around the corner, a wooden fan was clicked shut beneath a striped green and white hat.

* * *

><p>When Kakusu woke up later with a pounding headache in Hogo's bed, he had no way of knowing that in just a few short hours everything was going to change.<p>

But because he didn't know this he got out of bed, thankfully recognising where he was and so not in a panic. He tided the bed once he was standing beside it, brushing it down to get the creases out and lining up the pillows; the door opened while he was working, and Hogo came in carrying a cup.

"Don't bother with that," he said, and Kakusu spun around at the voice. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," came the quick response.

"For some peculiar reason, I don't believe you," said Hogo in a sing-song voice, holding out the cup of water and revealing two tablets in his hand. "Take these, they'll make you feel better."

Holding back a 'but I feel fine', Kakusu took the tablets and swallowed them, taking the water afterwards. "Mum's worried about you," said Hogo, rolling his eyes at the display. "To be honest, we all are."

Kakusu sighed, handing the cup back to Hogo. "I should probably be going home," he said, sounding dejected. "Dad doesn't know I left last night."

Hogo frowned at this. "You can just stay - "

"And get your family charged for kidnapping, no thanks," snapped Kakusu. He realized his words were a bit sharp due to Hogo's flinch, and he apologised quietly, flushing in shame. "But I really should be going back."

Hogo didn't want him to go - there were so many questions that needed answering - but he nodded sadly, letting his friend past. "Just say something to my parents on the way down would you? Actually - I'll take you home, does that sound okay?"

Having been near-enough the door, Kakusu didn't bother turning around. "I can get myself home," he said, "I'm not a child."

"I know," countered Hogo, following Kakusu down the stairs. "But I want to take you home - meet me in the garage once you've spoken to my parents, it's down the art corridor."

He gave Kakusu no more time to argue as he went to grab his shoes and keys, giving the boy a look when he remained standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Well go on then, they're in the garden. Out that door - " He pointed at one of the sliding doors. "They won't bite."

Kakusu still looked unsure, but he went out of the door as Hogo opened the door to the corridor, leaving it open behind him to give Kakusu a hint just in case he couldn't remember which way he was supposed to go. He jogged lightly down the hallway and entered the garage, 'Strawberry' was sitting by his mother's silver car, dirt covering her tyres from the last time Hogo used her. He frowned, unclicking his helmet from the back of the bike, making a mental note to wash the Aprilia at some point.

He slid his helmet on and rummaged around the room for the remote for the exit; Kakusu came in looking nervous some moments later as he pushed the little button to lift the wide exit.

"Grab yourself a helmet," said Hogo, pointing over to the shelf and putting the remote back where he found it. "One of them should fit you."

Kakusu did so, and seconds later they were both seated on the motorbike, looking out of the garage to the driveway and street before them. "Um... what about the gate?" Kakusu asked, gripping Hogo tighter when the engine roared to life.

"There's a sensory just outside the garage that makes it open," said Hogo, beginning to gently roll the bike down the driveway. His words were true as the giant metallic gates parted to allow them through, and Hogo pulled down his visor and looked back over his shoulder. "Where am I going?"

Kakusu snorted. "You know where Crane Lane is?" he asked, his words slightly muffled by the helmet.

"Yeah," said Hogo, nodding, glad that he at least knew _somewhere_ in the town.

"Right. Go there and then take a left once you reach the corner shop. After that take the first right and that's my street."

Hogo voiced his confirmation, and they were off.

It didn't take long to get to their destination despite being caught at a few traffic lights, and Hogo pulled up the bike on the left hand side, catching it with his foot when he cut the engine. "Which one is it?" he asked, looking around at the apartment blocks that lined both sides of the street.

Kakusu pointed to the one with the red roof, climbing off the back of the bike and taking off his helmet. "Thanks for the lift," he said, handing the helmet to Hogo. "I can take myself from here."

Hogo was just about to let him go - and the shorter was already walking across the road at this point - but the image of the hand shaped bruise on Kakusu's neck flashed to mind and he changed his mind, rushing to get his helmet off. He jumped off of the bike and pulled out the keys, carrying the helmet under his arm as he ran after the other before he got any further.

"Hey! Hey wait!" Kakusu turned, hiding a flash of fear before Hogo could see it. The blonde came up beside him and eased into his pace, "Can I meet your family?"

Resisting the urge to bite his lip, Kakusu said, "They might not be in."

Hogo didn't appear to be fazed, sticking close to Kakusu as they made their way inside the building and up the concrete stairs. He kept his mouth shut about the poor condition of the building; the great cracks in the walls and the stains on the floor; the smell that lingered in the air was like smoke - whatever the hell it was, and instead focused on the conversation at hand.

"Doesn't matter," he said, honestly not at all bothered. "I'd like to see where you live anyway."

"Doubt that," Kakusu muttered under his breath, and Hogo pretended not to hear it as they stopped outside room twenty-three. The key that fit the door was small and silver, and Kakusu pushed open the door cautiously, stepping into the area like a small, whimpering dog on a chain. The stench of alcohol that filled the room put Hogo on alert, and he wished he had brought Zangetsu with him.

"Dad?" Kakusu called into the thick gloom, peering into the room on the left. When he didn't see anybody there he peered into the room opposite, calling again, "You home?"

"I don't hear anything," commented Hogo, more to put Kakusu at ease than himself. Kakusu nodded, beckoning Hogo to follow him, "My room's down here if you're interested," he said, not having to look back to now that he was being followed. "It's not much, but if you're interested..."

He pushed open the door to reveal a rather small and messy room. Clothes were stacked in piles against the far wall and pieces of paper filled with doodles and drawings were littered everywhere; the only furniture in the room was a futon, and it was that futon that a beefy old man with greying hair and sunken eyes was currently sitting on, a bottle of whiskey by his leg and a science text book on his lap. The ring piercing in his nose and the shaggy hair gave Hogo the impression of a pissed off bull, and Kakusu certainly seemed to agree when the bull looked up towards them and he emitted a frightened squeak, stepping back into Hogo's firm chest.

"Dad!" he spluttered. "What are you doing in here?"

"Waitin' to see if ya were gunna come back afta I kicked ya out last night," the man replied, a slur beginning to form on his words. "Fuckin' screamin' did ma head in."

Kakusu bit his lip and turned to the person behind him as his dad took another long swig of the whiskey. "Maybe it's best you leave Hogo."

Hogo knew he should, but he didn't want to leave his friend in a situation like this. The drunken man really_ did_ look like a mad bull on the very of charging, and the fact that he had kicked his own son out in the middle of the night because of something as simple as having a nightmare (albeit a extreme nightmare) was pathetic in Hogo's mind - no wonder Kakusu had come to him instead; _he_ was the type of person that would sit up all night in worry; _he_ was the type of person who would get up at two o'clock in the morning to help a friend; _he_ was the type of person to offer comfort in any way he could just to make somebody else feel better. He was everything but Kakusu's father, and it showed.

Thankfully, or not, said drunken man took this moment to realize that they had a guest in the house.

"Who the hell are _you_?" he demanded, imaginary smoke being snorted out of his nose in anger. "Ya not welcome!"

Fairly surprised that the man could manage such a word as 'welcome' in his state, Hogo almost forgot to duck when the science text book was thrown his way. It smacked against the hallway wall and dropped to the floor like a stone, both he and Kakusu straightening up slowly in case something else was lobbed at them.

"Outta my house!" the man continued to roar, and Kakusu held up his hands in a worthless attempt to calm his father. "Dad, dad, he's from my school! He's - "

Kakusu's father was on his feet, the whiskey bottle in his right hand and stomping towards them. "I don't give a fuck if he's ya friend or ya fuckin' boy toy ya shitty little whore, I wan' him outta ma house!"

Kakusu squeaked in terror again and shoved Hogo out into the hallway, hard enough for the blonde to trip over his own feet and land beside the science book. The furious bull-of-a-man swung the bottle of whiskey carelessly in an arch when he joined them outside of the bedroom, Kakusu ducked under it with ease as if he had done so many times before, but found himself scooped up over the man's other arm and thrown down the hall; Hogo jumped to his feet when the man dived for him, he too decided that pushing was the best course of action and forced the intoxicated man down onto the floor, leaping over him without a second thought to help Kakusu.

A meaty hand grasped his ankle painfully tight and brought him crashing to the filthy carpet; Mr. Sairai was up on his feet and stalking towards his son; Hogo wasn't able to get to his feet in time to prevent the tug of hair that had Kakusu whimpering as he was pulled down the hallway by his father, but he was up seconds later and stumbling after them, red hot pain flaring in his ankle.

"Let him go!" Hogo roared, making a split second choice, and a stupid one at that, and rugby tackling the giant man from behind, cursing loudly when Kakusu was not only knocked to the floor too, but ended up with both his father and his friend on top of him. Hogo scrambled off of the fat ass that belonged to Mr. Sairai; the bull rolled off of his son and blindly swung the whiskey bottle, the brown glass shattered against the side of Hogo's face and the student crumpled against the wall, his glasses flying off in a random direction and his blood splattering all over the carpet and other occupants of the house.

The drunk man seemed stupefied at what he had done and so didn't react when his son pushed past him to get to the teenager, horrified and ashamed of himself for letting him get hurt.

"Ichigo," he cried, reaching a shaking hand to the wounded face. "Ichigo, Ichigo..."

"Oh is that his name?" asked a gruff, slurry voice, and Kakusu turned to see his father watching him curiously. The broad shoulders shrugged heavily, tone completely uncaring, "Stupid fucker."

Teal eyes burned with unlocked fury. The young teenager smacked away the wandering hand of the violent man and growled, "Nobody touches him."

Kentaro Sairai did not like being told what to do.

"Now see here boy!" he bellowed, grabbing the collar of the boy's shirt and pulling him close enough to get spit on the pale face as he spoke, "_**I**_ am in charge."

Tōshirō Kurosaki narrowed his eyes. "Call me _boy_ again and I'll break your nose."

Kentaro hissed and rose to the challenge.

* * *

><p><strong>"It's about time you got here."<strong>

Hogo opened his eyes at the familiar voice, blinking a few times as he stared at the black and grey sky above him that looked oddly like that of an office building. Frowning, because that couldn't be right, he sat up clutching his head and let out a yelp when he saw that the sky was now in front of him - the proper sky, well, almost, the clouds were multi-coloured - _heh, like Kakusu's hair_ - and what he was currently lying on was the side of a very tall building.

"Oh my god!" he screamed, arms flailing in hope to find something to grab onto before he fell. But he didn't fall, actually, his body seemed perfectly happy defying the laws of gravity and so remained where it was. "This isn't real, this isn't real, oh my god I'm dreaming, I'm dr - "

**"Muttering to yourself will get you nowhere."**

He gasped and twisted around, settling his eyes on a lone man with ragged black hair and a narrow pair of sunglasses standing on the tip of what appeared to be a flag-pole. His dark robes billowed in a non-existent wind, giving Hogo the impression of a bird, and he spoke calmly, despite the other's panic about the strange world he found himself in.

**"Don't you have a place to be?"**

Hogo frowned, unsure of the answer to the man's question. He got himself comfortable facing the man, crossing his legs and sitting like a student before their teacher. "I do?" he asked, cocking his head slightly. "I don't... really remember."

**"There is much for you to remember."**

His frown deepened. "Can you..." he paused, hesitant with what he was about to say. "Can you help me?"

**"I can help you calm your mind. I can help you become strong. I can help you make choices of life and death. I can help you fight. I can help you win. But only if you ask. What do you want me to help you with?"**

"Remembering, of course!" Hogo shot back, feeling as those this was beginning to turn into a one-sided conversation. "Whatever I've forgotten, I want to remember!"

The man smiled a small smile. **"I cannot help you with that. Remembering what you have forgotten is a matter of the heart, and that is a place I will not delve."**

"Well then can you give me a hint?" Hogo asked. The conversation was going nowhere!

**"Your heart is a good place to start,"** said the man simply. **"Why don't you ask him?"**

Hogo, who had been pouting at the obvious answer, slumped his shoulders in defeat. "Him? What do you mean?"

Black robed shoulders shrugged. Hogo scowled, feeling irritated. "Fat lot of good you are, Old Man Zangetsu."

The name rushed out of Hogo's lips before he could stop it, but it felt right, so _right_, that he didn't take it back. Zangetsu nodded, but agreeing with the other's statement he was not. **"You're already halfway there,"** he said, pride hinting in his tone.** "But you've just got to remember what it is that you wish to protect."**

Hogo thought about it for a moment, the clouds drifting past him giving him no indication of time.

"My heart?" he said finally, looking up at Zangetsu for confirmation. The man gave him a piercing look from behind his sunglasses, and Hogo continued, "I... wish to protect my heart - my life - my _everything_." The more he said the more sure he felt, "I... I made a promise didn't I? I promised that everything would be okay, and I - "

He paused again. Zangetsu shifted slightly on the pole.

"Can you help me Zangetsu?" he asked, almost sounding in desperation as he stood. "Can you help me live up to my namesake?"

Zangetsu hummed like he didn't have a care in the world.

**"All you have to do is ask, Ichigo."**

* * *

><p><em>"Hey there beautiful."<em>

_"...Hmm... Don't call me that..."_

_"It's only the truth Tōshirō, you know I always say the first thing that comes to mind."_

_"Mmm... Whatever you say Ichigo. I could get used to waking up like this."_

_"That sounds good to me."_

* * *

><p>There was blood dripping into his eyes, but he didn't care, crawling across the bloody floor to where his husband was slouched against the wall. His glasses were still lying broken somewhere down the hallway, but he didn't need his prescription to make out the black and white hair that hung over Tōshirō's wounded face.<p>

"Hey..." he muttered quietly, sitting up against the wall next to Tōshirō. Teal eyes flickered his way revealing worry and pain and grief deep inside the blue lagoons, but Ichigo, bruised jaw and broken fingers, was pleased to see the relief and happiness shining on the surface. Tōshirō's thin bottom lip was torn and he had a gash on his right temple from a large piece of glass, but he paid no mind to the injuries and reached a hand up to brush against his husband's left cheek, the one that was swelling and turning purple. One of Ichigo's hands came up to cup his tiny fingers, and they both smiled at each other from after being separated for so long.

"Zangetsu spoke some sense into me," murmured Ichigo, bringing his other arm round to wrap around Tōshirō's waist, pulling him closer so that they could cuddle. The hands that had been on his cheek moved down to grasp each other against his leg, and Ichigo prayed for this moment never to end. "He was always good at doing that."

Tōshirō chuckled, leaning against Ichigo's toned chest with a happy sigh. "Kentaro over there was the one to knock sense into me," he said, indicating his head to where the man lay face down on the carpet. "I did tell him I would break his nose if he called me 'boy' again."

"Touchy," said Ichigo, smiling widely against the fine black hair. "Gotta give it to him though, he put up a good fight."

"Only because you didn't have Zangetsu on you," commented Tōshirō dryly. "Which is just as well, really, because if you had you would have killed him."

Ichigo couldn't deny that statement and so changed the subject. "I miss your old hair."

Tōshirō tutted, amused. "I'll cut and bleach it if you want," he said with a roll of his eyes. "But it would attract a lot of attention."

There was no question who from.

"Alright then," sighed Ichigo, defeated. "Keep it as it is. Speaking of attracting attention though, what exactly are we going to tell my parents?"

"The truth?" the genius taicho suggested with a click of his tongue. "They already know half of it, you might as well fill in the rest. And they're your parents, they have the right to know."

"It's weird," mumbled Ichigo. "Having parents again, after so long."

Tōshirō didn't say anything to that, not really being able to understand the feeling that his beloved was having, never having parents himself - if you discounted Kentaro of course.

"I wonder why we've come back," he said after a moment in which they just basked in each other's comfort. "Reincarnation was always a rare marvel - it's a wonder we've been born into the same lifetime."

Ichigo tightened his hold on his husband, nuzzling his face in his hair before kissing it. "Well you don't see me complaining," he said strongly, blinking some blood from his eyes. "But I get the feeling somebody's pulling strings just to get the chance to see the show again."

"That's a strange way of putting it," said Tōshirō, nevertheless impressed. "'Encore, encore' as they say, no?"

"I like that," agreed Ichigo with a slight nod of his aching head. "Poor us though, such lonely 'encores'."

The other taicho snorted. "Lonely or not, this discussion is not getting us medical attention."

Ichigo whined. "I don't wanna move."

"Fine," Tōshirō said, pulling out of the hold. "You stay here and wait for the curtains to shut on you then, I'm off to find a medic."

"You mean the director."

"The direct - ? Oh for god's sake."

Ichigo laughed at the look he received, pulling Tōshirō back towards him and giving him a quick kiss. "Love you."

Tōshirō, not quite the sap, flicked him on the nose. "Yeah, yeah, love you too."

* * *

><p><strong>End Note:<strong> That took me no where near as long as I expected. But wow that was fun to write. I know not a lot has been explained at the end, I was going to, honest, Urahara was going to come along and go all scientific on them, but somehow it ended like this and I can't say that I don't like it.

So please review and gift me with some feedback for all my hard work :D

Till next time,

xTKx


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